Not Your Average Joe’s ready for business at mall

LEADER OF TEAM: Not Your Average Joe’s General Manager Seth Caplan has been with the company for over nine years and opened five of their locations, including the new Warwick location. He said he and the rest of the team are excited about their first Rhode Island location and ready to serve.

Not Your Average Joe’s Kitchen and Bar, the new restaurant at the Warwick Mall, officially opened its doors for dinner last night and is having their first full-day of business today.

Yesterday afternoon, before the restaurants 4 p.m. opening, General Manager Seth Caplan and the rest of the workers were on-hand preparing for their first official night of business.

“We’re excited to be in the area and ready to serve all the guests who come here,” said Caplan, who has worked with the company for nine years and opened five locations. “The most important thing is that every guest has a great experience.”

Not Your Average Joe’s will be open seven days a week, Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. The restaurant will also host Happy Hour with half-priced appetizers from 3 to 6 p.m. every Monday through Friday.

To prepare for the official opening, employees have been going through training with a corporate team who all have experience with the restaurant. Caplan explained that they were able to hire 107 people for jobs in the front and back of the restaurant. The team also includes Chef Luciano DaSilva, who has worked with Caplan for a few years. This is the second restaurant they have opened together.

While there are 15 locations throughout Massachusetts, as well as locations in Maryland and Virginia, this is the first Not Your Average Joe’s in Rhode Island.

“This is also the first location we’ve built from the ground up,” explained Caplan, adding that this location features the company’s new concept of “industrial chic.” Other features unique to the Warwick location are the open kitchen in the back of the restaurant with a bread table in front, a heated, covered patio, and a fire pit outside.

While there are some unique features, Caplan points out that the menu of made-to-order, made from scratch dishes remains the same, as does the gluten-free menu, which Caplan says is one of the largest in the restaurant business.

“Allergies are always welcome because of the way we customize everything and make it from scratch,” said Caplan.

There are also always 20 beers on draft, two or three of which will be from local breweries. To stay in-season and up with current food trends, the Not Your Average Joe’s menu changes every six months, once in May and again in November. Special changed every six weeks.

The Warwick location will also take part in the company’s monthly charitable effort, Not Your Average Cause. Each month a different charitable, non-profit will be selected to be the benefiting charity for that month.

“Every Tuesday, they can come, we will mark their check and 15 percent of the check will go back to that organization,” explained Caplan.

The charities will have flyers to give out to supports about the fundraiser that guests can then present during their visit, or supporters can mention they would like to support the event. “We’re starting to get people to reach out for that,” said Caplan.

This month’s benefiting charity is the Warwick chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.

Although there are many different restaurants in the area, Caplan believes Not Your Average Joe’s is unique because of how customizable the menu can be, their commitment to the customer and their hospitality-minded approach.